California Medicare Supplement Insurance

Medicare Supplement insurance, often called Medigap insurance, is your gateway to better access to care and greater benefits, which means; go to the doctor and hospital of your choice, and pay very little if anything when you seek medical services from a doctor or hospital.

Medicare Supplement = It doesn’t get any better than this

Medicare Supplement policies only pay for services that Medicare deems medically necessary, and payments are generally based on the Medicare-approved charges. If you have Original Medicare and a Medigap policy, Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amounts for covered health care costs. Then your Medicare Supplement policy pays it’s share.

A Medicare Supplement (Medigap) is different from a Medicare Advantage plan (typically an HMO or PPO) because those plans replace Original Medicare, while a Medicare Supplement policy supplements your Original Medicare benefits.

California has what is called; the Birthday Rule (Read more here). This allows a person who currently has a Medicare Supplement plan to shop for a different company each year on the month of your Birthday, no health questions asked.

This is unique to California and allows you to switch companies, guaranteed and regardless of your current health status. Be sure to take advantage of this great Birthday Rule option. There is no need to be paying more than you should.

Every Medigap policy must follow Federal and state laws designed to protect you, and the policy must be clearly identified as “Medicare Supplement Insurance.” Medigap insurance companies in most states can only sell you a “standardized” Medigap policy identified by letters A through N.

Each standardized Medigap policy must offer the same basic benefits, no matter which insurance company sells it. Cost is usually the only difference between Medigap policies with the same letter sold by different insurance companies. Medigap policies are sold by private insurance companies that are licensed and regulated by the different state Departments of Insurance, but the benefits are set by the federal government.

Medicare Select:

Medicare Select is a type of Medigap policy sold in some states that require you to use hospitals, and in some cases doctors within a network to be eligible for full insurance benefits, except in the event of an emergency. Medicare Select can be any of the standardized Medigap plans.

These policies generally cost less than other Medigap policies. However, if you don’t use a Medicare Select hospital or doctor for non-emergency services, you’ll have to pay some or all of what Medicare doesn’t pay. Medicare will pay its share of approved charges no matter which hospital or doctor you choose.

Open Enrollment:

Beginning on the first day of the month in which you and or your spouse are both age 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B, you will have an open enrollment period for purchasing Medicare supplement insurance, which will last for six months.

During this time, you may exclude pre-existing health conditions for up to six months. Since you have only a limited open enrollment period, it is very important that you understand and take advantage of it.

Do you Qualify?:

In some situations, you have the right to buy a Medicare Supplement policy outside of your open enrollment period. These rights are called “Medigap protections.” They are also called guaranteed issue rights because the law says that insurance companies must sell you a Medicare Supplement policy.

In these situations, an insurance company must comply with the following requirements;

Cannot deny you Medigap coverage or place conditions on a policy.

Must cover you for all pre-existing conditions, and

Cannot charge you more for a policy because of past or present health conditions.

If you are under age 65 you can only purchase a policy from a company who sells Medigap policies to persons under 65 and on Medicare. You can buy the policy at the best premium price available, with no review of your medical records even if you have pre-existing conditions.

Enroll Today:

Simply call or email me, and I will mail, fax or email the appropriate application to you. Once completed you can fax or email the application back to me, and I’ll do the rest to make sure your application is processed quickly and accurately.

If you are new to Medicare or shopping for a different plan please feel free to call anytime with your questions.

John Conner
916-682-1117
john@johnconner.com

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Author: John

Medicare Options along with Individual and Group International Medical Insurance Options.